Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Ann Myers loves
cooking, crafts, and cozy mysteries. Talk about an author who’s perfect for
Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers! Ann lives with her husband and extra-large
housecat in southern Colorado but feels most at home in Santa Fe. Learn more
about her and her books (and find a few more recipes) at her website.

What an honor to be on
recipe Tuesday! The first book in my Santa Fe Café Mystery series, Bread of the Dead, came out last fall
and includes recipes for a Day of the Dead feast. A recipe inspired the book,
or at least the title and the seasonal setting. Pan de muerto, or bread of the dead, is a buttery sweet bread flavored
with anise seed and orange. The aroma alone will lure back the spirits, and the
dough is often shaped like a skull and crossbones—fun! Plus the name seemed made
for a culinary mystery.

My main character,
Rita Lafitte, is forty-one, newly single, and living with her teenage daughter
in a tiny rental casita. Like me, she’s a relative newcomer to the Southwest
and New Mexican cuisine. Rita, however, is a culinary pro and learning from a
master, her elderly friend and boss, Flori. At Tres Amigas Café they cook up delicacies
from green chile stew to cheesy enchiladas. As amateur sleuths, they stir up
killers. Rita investigates the death of her beloved landlord in Bread of the Dead. In Cinco de Mayhem (coming out March 29, 2016)
the sleuths take on a bully chef, a dicey health inspector, and a killer with sights
set on Rita.

One of the best parts
about writing these culinary cozies has been the excuse to research, cook, and
eat yummy New Mexican foods. For instance, I’ve learned a lot about bizcochitos,
New Mexico’s official state cookie. Bizcochitos appear at important events such
as weddings and quinceañeras and
especially for Christmas. They’re tasty shortbread cookies flavored with anise,
dusted in cinnamon sugar, and traditionally made with lard. Bizcochito experts swear
by lard for the proper tender texture. I’ll admit I’ve made butter and
shortening varieties, too, but that borders on confessing to cookie sacrilege.

Spelling is also a
matter of taste. When legislators met to designate the cookie, debate ensued
about the spelling: biscochito or bizcochito? Bizcochito made the bill, but
both versions remain common and contentious. As a writer fearful of grammar offenses,
I worry when I mention bizcochitos. However the cookies
are too important—and too tasty—to leave out.

I initially planned to
post a bizcochito recipe. But now, post-Christmas, even I have had too many sweets.
This chicken tortilla soup is quick and light but full of flavor. It’s also flexible.
For a vegetarian version, you could substitute butternut squash for the
chicken. For even easier prep, use leftover chicken (or turkey) or rotisserie
chicken. You can also adjust the chile heat—more or none at all—or add some New
Mexican roasted green chiles if you have them.

Stack all the corn tortillas and cut into 1/4” strips. Then
cut the strips into approximately 2” lengths. Divide in half. Reserve one half
for use as a garnish. The other half will dissolve into the soup as seasoning.

Nestle in the chicken thighs, meaty side down. Wait for soup
to boil again. Then lower to a simmer and cook uncovered until the chicken is
very tender, about 40 minutes.

Turn heat to its lowest setting. Carefully remove the
chicken pieces from the soup and place on plate or cutting board. Let cool
slightly, until safe to handle, and then chop into bite-sized pieces. If using
bone-in chicken, remove the bones first and discard.

While the soup is in its final simmer, drizzle some olive
oil on the remaining tortilla strips. Toss the strips to coat with oil. Heat a
wide frying pan. Add the strips and fry, stirring, for a few minutes until they
are golden and crispy.

Immediately before serving, stir 1-2 T of lime juice into
the soup.

Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with tortilla strips, lime
wedges (for diners to squeeze into their bowls if they want), cilantro,
avocado, sour cream, and any other toppings.

Note: This is a great
soup to make ahead or to freeze if you have any leftovers.

Bread of the Dead,

book 1 of the Santa Fe Café Mystery series

Life
couldn’t be sweeter for Tres Amigas Café chef Rita Lafitte, decorating sugar
skulls and taste-testing rich, buttery pan de muertoin anticipation ofSanta Fe’s Day of the Dead bread-baking
contest. That is, until her friendly landlord, Victor, is found dead next door.

Although the police deem Victor’s death a suicide, Rita knows something is
amiss. To uncover the truth, she teams up with her octogenarian boss Flori, the
town’s most celebrated snoop. The duo begin to sift through long-buried secrets
and take full measure of duplicitous neighbors, but the clock is ticking and
their list of suspects is growing ever longer. Just as the clues get hotter
than a New Mexican chile, one of their main suspects winds up dead. Rita fears
that the killer is dishing out seconds—and her order might just be up.

Newsletter

Keep up with Lois and Anastasia by subscribing to author Lois Winston's newsletter where you'll find special features, contests, and giveaways available only to subscribers.

SCRAPBOOK OF MURDER

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 6

SLEUTHING WOMEN II: 10 MYSTERY NOVELLAS

LITERALLY DEAD: an Empty Nest Mystery, Book 2

SLEUTHING WOMEN: 10 FIRST-IN-SERIES MYSTERIES

A collection of 10 full-length mysteries featuring murder and assorted mayhem, each the first book in an established multi-book series

A STITCH TO DIE FOR

Book 5 in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series

MOM SQUAD: a Shadow Ops Novella

WE'D RATHER BE WRITING

BAKE, LOVE, WRITE

DEFINITELY DEAD

An Empty Nest Mystery, Book 1

CRAFTY CRIMES

a Trio of Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mysteries

PATCHWORK PERIL

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery

DECOUPAGE CAN BE DEADLY

MOSAIC MAYHEM

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery

REVENGE OF THE CRAFTY CORPSE

CREWEL INTENTIONS

an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery

DEATH BY KILLER MOP DOLL

ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN

THE ANASTASIA POLLACK CRAFTING MYSTERIES

Read about Anastasia in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery seriesby Lois Winston. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Kirkus Reviews called it "North Jersey's more mature answer to Stephanie Plum." Assault With a Deadly Glue Gunwas also a Book of the Year Award nominee from ForeWord Reviews, a Daphne du Maurier Award finalist, and a Readers Choice Award nominee from the Salt Lake City Library System. Other books in the series include Death by Killer Mop Doll, Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, Decoupage Can Be Deadly, A Stitch to Die For, and Scrapbook of Murder, plus three mini-mysteries: Crewel Intentions,Mosaic Mayhem, and Patchwork Peril. Look for more of Anastasia's adventures coming in the future.

About Me

I'm the crafts editor at American Woman magazine; the single parent of two teenage boys and a Shakespeare quoting parrot; caretaker to a semi-invalid, communist mother-in-law from Hell and her demon dog; daughter to a multi-married descendant of the Czars (supposedly); reluctant cat-sitter to Mama's extremely corpulent white Persian cat; a born Jersey girl; and star of my own amateur sleuth mystery series.